“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
It’s true for affairs of the heart and it’s true for how you build a business, which is just another form of an affair of the heart: love matters.
Love counts as much as any amount of financial planning, marketing, and content. If we don’t love it, care about how it all goes, and hold the people we help through our business in the highest regard, everything else falls flat.
And loving the initial idea, the burst of newness, is one thing. It’s easy. Everyone is capable of it. But can we love our business, our mission, in the long run? Through the tough times? Through the dark nights, and occasionally darker days? Can we dig deep, remake, reshape, renew, and fall in love again with our business every single day?
The answer has to be yes to every one of these questions if our ideas are to be sustainable and valuable, for us and the world. Otherwise, we’re just wasting our time, and time is not a resource we can afford to waste. All we get is today. Love it and make it count!
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
2 thoughts on “Leap: How to Love Your Business Well”
This reminds me a conversation I had on Monday, sitting there pondering ways to make it exciting to wake up everyday. I think you have nailed it – love. Renewing love sometimes means getting out from underneath the to-do lists, meetings and deadlines and remember the mission, and the big picture!
Christa Avampato 
This reminds me a conversation I had on Monday, sitting there pondering ways to make it exciting to wake up everyday. I think you have nailed it – love. Renewing love sometimes means getting out from underneath the to-do lists, meetings and deadlines and remember the mission, and the big picture!
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Thanks, Lyndi. Love can do amazing things for us!
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